I could work my will, every idiot who goes around with “Merry Christmas” on his lips would be cooked with his own turkey and buried with a stake of holly through his heart! – The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors. Today on Classic Movie Review, we are taking on The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992).
I’ve been wanting to get to this movie for a while. This may be shocking to you, but I didn’t grow up with the Muppets. I’m too old. But every time I read something about this movie, all I hear is that this is the ultimate version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
I’ve reviewed a few of these already; A Christmas Carol (1938), Scrooged (1988), and the “WKRP episode “Bah, Humbug.” I am a big fan of Michael Caine, so I sat down to watch these muppets, and this is what I found out.
This film has a 7.7 rating on iMDB.com[1], which is not too bad for an adult story made generally for children. On Rottentomatoes.com, the film has 76 percent on the Tomatometer and a solid audience score of 86 percent[2].
I think New York Times film critic Janet Maslin missed the point in her December 11, 1992, review, saying in part:
“The Muppet Christmas Carol” is not one of those clever children’s films that keep adult escorts from gazing longingly at the exit signs. What you expect — Muppets — is pretty much what you get…
Michael Caine stars as Scrooge, playing the role enthusiastically and well… But when this film’s target audience watches the opening credits, don’t be surprised if Fozzie Bear gets a bigger hand than any grown-up could…
In this one, some fancy special effects are also used to heighten the audience appeal of the original material…Christmas Past is a small, eerie, wide-eyed nymph and Christmas Present a chortling giant.
…Much of the music is also on the saccharine side, but little children should like that reasonably well, just as they enjoy crowd scenes featuring Muppet vegetables and other talking toys. Val Strazovec’s production design offers a droll collection of snowy English rooftops and atmospheric street scenes.[3]
Michael Caine is astounding in this role, and I will discuss that more in the conclusions.
Actors – The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Returning
The undeniably great actor Michael Caine played the role of Scrooge. Caine was first covered in another of his greats, The Man Who Would Be King (1975).
New
At this point, I am not prepared to go into every puppet an individual controlled or the many voices they did. Let’s leave it with they are all super-talented performers and artists.
Dave Goelz puppeteered The Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens and Scrooge’s ghost partner Robert Marley. There were a total of three partners in this version.
Steve Whitmire puppeteered Kermit the Frog playing Bob Cratchit, Rizzo the Rat, and Bean Bunny.
Jerry Nelson puppeteered Tiny Tim, ghost partner Jacob Marley, and the Ghost of Christmas Present.
Frank Oz puppeteered Miss Piggy playing Emily Cratchit, Fozzie Bear, who was Fozziewig, Sam the Eagle as a Headmaster, and Animal.
I want to thank Tom M. for his comments on Lured (1947). I really appreciate the input from you, Classic People.
Story – The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
A very familiar story! The credits roll as the camera pans downward to show snow-covered rooftops in Victorian London. The crowd below consists of muppets and humans, but the humans mainly inhabit the background. Vendors are selling Christmas turkeys as the holiday is near. One of the shops is called “Duncan & Kenworthy.” This is a node to Duncan Kenworthy, one of the creators of Fraggle Songs (1983). The Fraggles are a bane to my existence.
Charles Dickens (The Great Gonzo) and Rizzo the Rat sell apples. Dickens introduces the movie with the help of Rizzo. Dickens begins telling that the Marley brothers are dead. In life, the brothers were partners with Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine). Scrooge comes around the corner and darkens the mood. A team of muppets sings about the cold-heartedness of Scrooge. The song tells that Scrooge is a vicious slumlord.
Scrooge arrives at the countinghouse of Scrooge and Marley. Dickens uses Rizzo to clean the window so they can watch the goings on inside. Mr. Applegate is waiting to ask Scrooge about his past due payments on his mortgage. Scrooge ignores the man and goes directly to his head clerk, Bob Cratchit (Kermit the Frog). Scrooge ignores Applegate’s pleas and tosses the man into the street. The other clerks, all rats, jump back to work in their ledge books.
This interaction puts Scrooge in the mood to send eviction notices the next day. Cratchit reminds Scrooge that the next day is Christmas, making this day Christmas Eve. Scrooge thinks people spending money on Christmas is a frivolity. Cratchit asks for more coal for the fire, and Scrooge threatens to fire them all.
Scrooge’s only living relative, his nephew Fred (Steven Mackintosh), arrives to invite his uncle to Christmas dinner. Rizzo gets knocked into the snow. Scrooge looks down on his nephew for being poor.
Two Muppets collecting for charity (Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker) come to ask Scrooge for a donation. He rudely dismisses the men saying there are poor houses and debtors’ prisons that he already pays for with taxes. He also says that if they die, it will decrease the surplus population.
The homeless Bean Bunny comes to the shop door, hoping to receive a donation from Scrooge for singing a carol. Scrooge throws a wreath at the poor bunny.
Cratchit is elected by the rats to ask Scrooge for Christmas Day off from work. Cratchit explains that there will be no other businesses open for them to work with. Scrooge allows them the day off, but it pains him terribly to do so. Scrooge leaves for his home. Cratchit and the rats sing as they close down the shop and start their Christmas celebrations.
Outside, the penguins have a skating party. It makes much more sense than stuffy Victorians trying to slide on ice in front of the church. Rizzo crashes into the trash. At the song’s end, Cratchit sees a comet fly across the sky. Apparently, this is a repeated motif in Muppet movies. I thought it was an omen that warned of death because Bean Bunny is shown shivering outside in the cold.
At home, Scrooge gets his first notification that it is a special night when he sees the face of his long-dead partner Jacob Marley (Statler), on the doorknocker. This shakes Scrooge up, and he searches his apartment the way you do when you’re alone and hear a noise.
Jacob and Robert Marley (Statler and Waldorf) appear in Scrooge’s bed chamber. They are wearing the chains they forged in life through their cruel and uncaring ways. The pair are accompanied by wailing cash boxes, a tribute to Bob Marley & The Wailers. The pair sing about the sinister deeds they have done in the name of business. They tell Scrooge he is doomed and eventually tells him that he will be visited by three ghosts at 1:00 am, 2:00 am, and 3:00 am. In this movie, there are a total of five ghosts on Christmas Eve.
In what I believe is the most implausible part of this story, Scrooge goes to sleep. Rizzo worries that the story might scare the children in the audience.
At 1:00 am, the clock bell rings, and the Ghost of Christmas Past arrives. The ghost is supposed to be a child. Still, the construction in a tank of water for filming, the childlike voice, and the way she is greenscreen placed on the film comes off as exceedingly creepy.
The Ghost of Christmas Past flies Scrooge to his past as Dickens and Rizzo follow along by holding a dangling rope. Scrooge is shown his lonely childhood without Christmas vacations. Later, he is taken to the site of his apprenticeship at the Fozziwig and Mom Rubber Chicken factory. Fozziwig (Fozzie Bear) is throwing a Christmas party for his staff. The young Scrooge is more concerned with money than the party.
Rizzo’s tail catches fire, and Dickens pushes him into a freezing bucket of water. The Marley brothers work at the factory as well. The band has Animal on drums and the Swedish Chef cooking. Later at the party, Scrooge meets Belle (Meredith Braun).
Scrooge and Belle become an item, but Scrooge’s concerns with money cause the relationship to end. The Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge to the Christmas Eve breakup of the couple. At this point, a song was cut from the movie, but it has been restored in most new media. However, the copy I got from iTunes didn’t include the song. The song was removed because Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg considered it too sad for young kids. I found a copy of YouTube and watched it. It clarifies why Belle broke up with Scrooge and is an extraordinarily touching moment. Belle sings facing away from young Scrooge, and he gently touches her a couple of times. However, it seems he doesn’t know how or care to break through to Belle. Near the song’s end, older Scrooge steps behind Belle and shows the pain of the breakup. Dickens and Rizzo are sobbing. Scrooge sobs and asks to be shown no more. Find a version with the song still included.
Scrooge is returned to his bed-chamber. The clock chimes for 2:00 am, and the Ghost of Christmas Present arrives. This is one of my favorite puns! The Ghost of Christmas Present is a giant jolly puppet. The ghost comes with copious amounts of food and represents a time of plenty.
The Ghost of Christmas Present is absent-minded and repeats himself as he only focuses on Christmas. The ghost shrinks down to human size. Dickens and Rizzo get knocked into the snow again.
The ghost takes Scrooge to Christmas morning. The ghost sings a song about Christmas with the support of many Muppets. Scrooge can’t understand how people of modest means can love and be happy. The pair eventually make it to Fred’s house, where he and his wife Clara (Robin Weaver) are hosting a happy Christmas party. The partygoers play a game like 20 questions. The clue is an unwanted creature, and the answer is Scrooge. No one defends him.
The Ghost of Christmas Present escorts Scrooge to Bob Cratchit’s house. Dickens and Rizzo go to clean the chimney. Inside the house, Mrs. Cratchit (Miss Piggy) is cooking and piggy out on Chestnuts. Rizzo falls onto the cooking turkey.
Bob Cratchit arrives at the home carrying his young son Tiny Tim (Robin the Frog). The family is loving and very happy despite being poor. Tiny Tim coughs. Cratchit gives a toast to Scrooge even though Mrs.Cratchit complains about the man. Tiny Tim sings a song about joy. Scrooge watches everything with a new understanding. Tiny Tim coughs again at the end of the song. The Ghost of Christmas Present ages and tells Scrooge that Tiny Tim will likely die soon. Scrooge doesn’t want the spirit to leave, believing he has been changed.
The bell tower rings for 3:00 am as The Ghost of Christmas Present departs and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come arrives. The new ghost wears the shroud of death, and Scrooge is frightened.
The ghost nods but does not speak. Dickens and Rizzo leave because they are scared. The spirit takes Scrooge to a place where a group of business pigs talks about someone who died, and no one really cares. He is then shown a group of Muppet street criminals dividing loot stolen from Scrooge’s room following his death.
Scrooge asks to be shown something less shocking. The ghost takes him to the Cratchit home. Tiny Tim has died, and the family is suffering greatly. It is hardest on Bob.
Scrooge is returned to the cemetery. He sees his own gravestone. Scrooge wants to know if the events can be changed. He says he will change and grabs the spirit’s robe. He awakes back in his bedroom.
Overcome with the joy of being alive and filled with the Christmas spirit, he vows to live with the spirit of Christmas. Dickens and Rizzo are knocked off the window seal into the snow when Scrooge throws open the window.
Scrooge asks Bean Bunny what day it is and is told it is Christmas Day. Scrooge pays the bunny to buy a prize turkey from a merchant. He plans to take the turkey to the Cratchit household. Scrooge leaves his house wishing everyone he sees a Merry Christmas.
Scrooge encounters the two Muppets that were previously collecting for charity. He pledges a large donation and more in the future. One of the Muppets gives Scrooge a scarf. Scrooge sings about his new giving attitude as it buys more for the Cratchit family. He buys extra coal for his rat bookkeepers.
Scrooge travels to Fred and Clara’s home, where he distributes presents to them. He also brings presents to his old schoolmaster (Sam the Eagle) and Fozziwig.
Scrooge first scares Bob by saying he did not come to work. Mrs. Cratchit lays into him before he says he is raising Bob’s salary and paying his mortgage. Scrooge joins the family for a Christmas Day feast. Fred is present by Clara is missing. Tiny Tim gets well in the future. The entire group sings about love.
Conclusion – The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Wow. I have to say this movie was pretty darn good. Several things aligned to make the movie better than average. The man most associated with the creations of the Muppets, Jim Henson, died unexpectantly at the age of 53 in 1987[4]. Jim’s son Brian was tapped to make his directorial debut for this film. Brian was an experienced puppeteer and voice actor. His previous experience made him an excellent choice, as stated in a BBC article:
“It turns out that Henson was actually the perfect filmmaker to make The Muppet Christmas Carol. Not just because he was the son of their creator. He’d also previously worked as a puppeteer and performer on a variety of darker movies using animatronics and puppets, including Labyrinth, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Witches.
“I was able to bring that darkness that I had been working in, and mix it with the comedy. That’s the whole film,” explains Henson. “It’s Dickens and Henson. Scrooge is the leader of Dickens. Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit is the leader of Henson. The two contrasts crash into each other. They’re not particularly comfortable cohabitants. That’s why it’s so exciting.”[5]
Another important aspect of this film is the music. Paul Williams, who you may know as Little Enos from Smokey and the Bandit (1977), was plucked from a decade of drug and alcohol abuse to write the songs.
The BCC article states:
The writer of The Carpenters’ We’ve Only Just Begun and Barbra Streisand’s Evergreen, Williams had worked on The Muppet Show and The Muppet Movie, earning an Oscar nomination for the latter’s song Rainbow Connection. Which is all the more remarkable, since Williams struggled with alcohol and drug addiction through his life, up until 15 March, 1990.
“That’s my sober birthday,” admits Williams. “I’m 32 years sober. By the end of the 80s my career had basically gone. I had misplaced the 80s. When you misplace an entire decade, you have earned your seat and you are officially an alcoholic. I had a reputation in Hollywood as an alcoholic and an addict.”[6]
Hiring Williams to work on the songs for The Muppet Christmas Carol proved to be a masterstroke, as he used his own recent spiritual awakening as a parallel for Scrooge’s journey.
“All of a sudden I was waking up in the morning with no cravings. I’d found my tribe. I was comfortable and grateful in this world in a way I’d never experienced before,” declares Williams. “That’s when I was asked to write a score about Scrooge, who is experiencing a spiritual awakening and a changed outlook. It was a perfect fit.”
Michael Caine told producer and director, “I’m going to play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role, and there are no puppets around me.”[7]
Michael Caine is why this film, in my opinion, is the greatest “Christmas Carol” movie!
World-Famous Short Summary – Shake it like Shakespeare
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[1] The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) – IMDb
[2] The Muppet Christmas Carol – Rotten Tomatoes
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/11/movies/review-film-kermit-etc-do-dickens-up-green.html
[4] Jim Henson – Wikipedia
[5] The Muppet Christmas Carol: A festive classic’s dark backdrop – BBC Culture
[6] The Muppet Christmas Carol: A festive classic’s dark backdrop – BBC Culture
[7] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104940/trivia/
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